Monday, September 14, 2009

Recently, I had a chance to talk with Wes Platt who is one of the developers on Fallen Earth. He was kind enough to answer some questions for posting on this site. Thanks Wes! Fallen Earth is currently in pre-order launch access mode and will be open for all on Tuesday September 22nd.

Werit: Can you tell us a little about yourself and what you do for Fallen Earth?

Wes: My name is Wes Platt. On the FE forums, I'm known as Canticle. For more than a decade, I worked as a journalist for the St. Petersburg Times. Now, I'm a content design team lead for FE. It's my job to help guide other designers on a day-to-day basis as we develop new content for the game.

Werit: I know text based games are a big part of your gaming history. Have they influenced your work on Fallen Earth? If so, how?

Wes: The text-based online multiplayer games that I've worked on helped me hone the creation of dialogue in short order and to jump rather fluidly from one character's mindset to the next. As a result, it's fairly easy for me to move between characters as I'm developing their dialogue for missions in Fallen Earth. I've also found opportunities to sneak in some Easter egg references to characters from my games here and there. If you play OtherSpace, keep your eyes peeled and you might spot them.

Werit: You may have heard Star Wars: The Old Republic is trying to make story a central part of their game, which many MMO's have gotten away from. Is the story an important part of Fallen Earth?

Wes: Story is a huge part of Fallen Earth, from beginning to end. We've got several major storylines that carry throughout the game. You learn early on that you're a clone, so that's a central storyline. In another, we explore the back story of the corporate giant, GlobalTech, and what its leaders did in the name of progress. You've also got opportunities to explore whatever became of the followers of Alec Masters after the fall of Hoover Dam. And those are just the core storylines. Every town has a story, from fighting off bandits to recovering from mass poisonings to trying to thwart zombie-generating lunatic AIs. We love telling stories in a post-apocalyptic environment. Some of them are true post-apoc. Some are horror. Some are sci-fi. Some are humor. We've even got the occasional unrequited love story here and there.

Werit: Fallen Earth is launching September 22nd. It just so happens to be near the release of Champions Online and Aion. That is some pretty stiff competition. What sets Fallen Earth apart?

Wes: Fallen Earth is set apart from the competition first and foremost by the setting: It's post-apocalyptic Earth. Next, we've got a deep crafting system that lets you make 95 percent of all the gear and other goodies available in the game world. You can make everything from a bladed hockey stick to a muscle car. As for having competition: We're okay with it. Our goal is to develop a growing fanbase over time. If we can follow a slow but steady growth curve similar to EVE Online, that's just fine by us.

Werit: I find the horses and vehicles in this game very interesting. How many mounts are out there for a player to get? Are there any customization options?

Wes: We've got several types of mounts: Horses, all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, dune buggies, and a muscle car known as the Interceptor. Players can make variants of each kind. Some are faster. Some hold more cargo. And some are equipped with guns. Horses will be popular because they're the only mount that you can fire a rifle from and they'll regenerate stamina, while vehicles need refueling. You can shoot handguns from other vehicles. Right now, our vehicles are single-passenger. We've got multi-passenger on the wish list.

Werit: Player made add-ons are becoming a mainstay of the modern MMO. Does Fallen Earth support these kind of add-ons?

Wes: Not at release. It's still under consideration.

Werit: MMO's seem to fall into a couple camps regarding content releases. There is WoW and their big but slow updates. Then there is LoTRO with their frequent but smaller updates. Once the game is released, how will updates be done?

Wes: We're hoping to add small content patches rather frequently, with major updates coming on a quarterly basis.

Werit: Fallen Earth does have PvP. Can you explain how this works and why a player will want to participate?

Wes: PvP comes in a few flavors in Fallen Earth. We've got some designated zones that are just intended for the video game equivalent of paintball: You run around and kill each other for fun. We've got some that offer "supernodes," which drop rare and valuable crafting components. And then we've got conflict towns, in which players of the various factions and their allies can battle for supremacy. If your faction takes over a conflict town, you get access to special merchants and mission-givers that aren't available to anyone else. During PvP, you earn Death Toll points. You can use those points to gain access to PvP gear.

Werit: Where do you see Fallen Earth in 3 years?

Wes: Successful, with a steady and growing player base and regular content patches. It's a little difficult to give an accurate forecast right now. Once the game releases and we've got a solid foundation of subscribers, it should open the door for us to add more exciting features to Fallen Earth.

Werit: Finally, what would you like readers to know about Fallen Earth?